Capitalism Or Socialism - Take Your Pick

Remember … democracy soon wastes, exhausts, and murders itself. There never was a democracy yet that did not commit suicide.

John Adams, letter to John Taylor, April 15, 1814

[D]emocracy will soon degenerate into … such an anarchy that every man will do what is right in his own eyes and no man’s life or property or reputation or liberty will be secure….

John Adams, An Essay on Man’s Lust for Power, August 29, 1763

The United States, a Republic, makes its laws through elected representatives who are empowered by the people at regular intervals.  This superior form of democracy protects the nation against governments that have an unhealthy appetite for power, a primary objective of the Founders. 

Capitalism

Capitalism is an economic system that features private ownership of capital goods, and   investments made by private individuals.  Prices, production and distribution systems are essentially determined by free competition in an open market.  This system has produced the highest standard of living for more of its citizens than any other system on earth; it made America the richest and the most powerful nation that the world has ever seen.

 Capitalism is an impersonal system.  It provides equal opportunity to try; it does not guarantee equal success.  For those who can and do try, economic rewards can range from comfortable to huge; for those who won’t try, economic penalties can be harsh; for those who can’t try, an economic safety net is needed, financed by states and private donations.        

 The government of the Founders focuses on the welfare and safety of the nation, and it leaves problems associated with the welfare of the people to states and their home-based charities.  It plays a small roll in a capitalistic system, limiting itself to such things as the establishment of laws that regulate civil and economic behavior, fair rules of commerce, playing watchdog over the safety of products offered and easing  interstate commerce.  Capitalism is in accord with the ideas of the Founders.    

       Capitalism is popular with those who place a high value on freedom and cherish the right to choose their occupations or investments; they regard the product of their efforts to be beyond the reach of government, except for their fair share of the taxes that are necessary to maintain a small, non-interfering central government.         

Socialism

The focus of a socialistic government, in effect, ascends the safety and welfare of the  people above the safety and welfare of the nation.  It persistently seeks more power, which is an attack on the rights of the people.  In its quest for heaven on earth, it raises taxes to the maximum to pay for social programs that will allegedly eliminate poverty and ignorance; in its search for equality of outcomes, it pokes its nose into the day-to-day practices of business.  It fosters class envy between economic groups.  As a system of government, it collides head-on with the ideas of the Founders.  

 Socialism is popular with those who value security over freedom, and with those who envy the wealth generated by some.  Economic policy under a socialistic government features constant involvement of the central government in all aspects of the private sector.  It divides society; its dominant feature, perhaps, is its persistent attempt to take wealth from those who have it and give it to those who don’t.  Historically, it tends to be irreligious, and it supports cultural changes that overturn long-held  moral and ethical views.                    

Conclusion

The American government has been on the path to socialism for a half century.  It is in the hands of socialists today.  It has succeeded because many Americans have gradually become takers instead of doers.  Why not?  It didn’t seem to hurt anything.  But the piper has come to call.  Political leaders, who have been buying votes with unaffordable federal social programs, have almost destroyed America.  National debt is out of sight.

 So make up your minds, Americans.  Allow socialists to destroy your nation by giving them power for four more years, or for once in your life vote for your country instead of your political party. 

 Obama sold “hope and change” in 2008, and it won him the presidency.  There is less hope in the land today; the change has been unhealthy and unbelievably expensive.  It’s time for a change.      

Robert Kelly, author of several books on baseball and history/politics, is also a freelance, award-winning journalist whose work has appeared in many newspapers.  His latest books, The National Debt of the United States and Neck and Neck to the White House, are available at Amazon and the better bookstores. His e-mail address is bobkelly307@verizon.net